Essentials for bushwhacking

With plans being made for ‘whacky fest’ in a few weeks some may be joining in that have done little or no bushwhacking before and may be interested in what essentials are needed different from a regular hike. I’ll post some of my suggestions but others may want to add their tips and suggestions.

Map and compass and knowledge of how to use them
Eye protection (safety glasses or the like)
A whistle (sometime you just can’t see each other!)
Gaitors (keeps the shoelaces tied, keeps the shoelaces from hooking on branches, keeps the forest out of your shoes)
Long pants and longs sleeves that don’t catch easily on branches (if it is wet good raingear)
Nothing dangling from the pack (the trees will steal it)
Perhaps more food and water than normal (it will take longer to cover the terrain than on a trail)
Personally I find that poles get in the way more than they help
A good sense of humor

Patience with yourself and others........ not everyone handles rough terrain the same way. When hiking off trail I usually slow down and put safety first, especially when bushwacking solo. I also tend not to be as goal oriented as it's nice just to explore the woods sometimes, follow a stream or ridgeline to see what you might find.

Regarding rain gear:

Leave your fancy, expensive stuff at home. It can get ripped at worst and covered with sap at best. Gore-tex doesn't breathe when the pores are filled with sap.

I wear my field rain gear (thick rubbery stuff) that costs much less.

Also, a wool shirt goes a long way towards keeping deep scratches to a minimum.

Have fun, I'll be there in spirit!

spencer

Personally, I also bring a headlamp, extra clothes (gloves, socks, shirt and pants in a dry bag), extra batteries, a survival blanket and Pristine.
I do tend to pack heavy (23-25 lbs) but my thinking is that there is always a remote possibility that I might be stuck overnight in the woods for some reason (lost, injuries, sickness, etc.).
I prefer the cautious approach.

Is Pristine a brand name for iodine?

spencer

Work Gloves come in very handy.
Compass on a lanyard. You'll have it out all day.
More than one map. A closeup, and a larger scale, both in a ziploc. With extras packed safely away in your pack, also in a ziplock
GPS: If you have it, learn how to use it, and take it. Use it like a tool, not a Bible
Camera: you'll want to capture your predicaments, I mean, accomplishments
Alternate Plan "B": have an alternative in mind if you find the going too tough from the get go.
Poles: No, unless you have a long approach to a shorter bushwhack

Following Post'rBoy (if you can) is also a good approach

A cool head for when you finally have to admit to yourself (and your newbie friends) that you don't know where the f*** you are. (Needless to say, I still don't have a GPS)

Good suggestions folks...

I think the number one thing to bring on a bushwack is a good attitude and ability to have fun in all conditions. Unlike following a trail, where the only real options is 1)How fast to go 2)when to eat, stop, etc., on a bushwack you have a little more freedom of what terrain to follow, whether to follow a ridgeline around some thick spruce or make a bee line through some thick forest. There are always two different types of bushwackers, those that follow a compass bearing religiously and those that kind of generally follow one based on the conditions. Being able to compromise with another is essential. Of course, certain people always want to navigate and certain people are just happy to follow. When you get two 'wackers that both want to navigate, there should be some form of compromise and collusion between the two, rather than both going off in his/her separate way. Usually, with a known hiking partner(s), this is known beforehand but on a new trip, it would be interesting.


Nobody mentioned about leaving a plan with somebody, maybe more so important because of the off-trailness than on a trailed hike, but I'll mention that too. Leaving a good itinerary, estimate of time of hike and a general idea, perhaps even a topo map of the planned route would be great.

Jay

What not to bring

It's just as important to know what not to bring. If you are spending one or more nights off-trail, you are better off in a bivy sack, tarp or hammock than a tent, because tent sites can be difficult to find. I like the hammock/tarp combo, because not only does it allow you to camp in a confined area, it lets you sleep comfortably where the ground is rocky, sloped, etc.

Unlike the majority of people in this thread, I hate wearing glasses, because they tend to fog up as I'm scrambling over blowdown, huffing over ridges, etc. Bushwhacking expends more energy, and thus creates more body heat, than trail hiking, at least for me. Of course, I'm one of those people who is fogged up and sweating 50 yards from the trailhead.

The only other thing that I suggest you do bring is a willingness to suffer happily and a fascination with the unknown.

Hey, nobody mentioned surveyers' tape for that Hansel and Gretle navigation method.

OK OK I was just kidding.

One thing I found helpful was to study the topo in detail, laying out a course with magnetic headings and distances and estimating the time/distance to milestones such as a ridge or a brook and constantly checking your compass and watch. Altimeters are also helpful in estimating your position since that will give you an approximate contour which combined with other topographic features and your dead reckoning should give you an idea of where you are at all times ... well, almost all.

Approximately half of my time outdoors is bushwhacking at night. Another forty-five percent is bushwhacking in daytime. (Maybe someone could point out a "trail" to me some time .......)

I cannot overstress the importance of eye protection. An eye scratch or poke is serious discomfort at best; it may be disabling for a while; and it is potentially forever blinding. You may not be coming out of the woods on your own power. Covering only the injured eye does little to ease the discomfort, because your eyes continue to move in tandem and thus irritate the injured one.

Yes, I wear glasses, and yes, they fog up. I wipe them off and move on. This year I'm going to try the allegedly anti-fogging "Cat Crap" and its ilk. But I don't move a foot in the woods without something covering my eyes, even though I can get around fine without prescription lenses.

I too use the 65/35 work shirts for bushwhacking, One tip. When you put you hands up to protect your face, it exposes part of your forearm as the shirt has an opening near the cuff. You can eliminate this problem by sewing the opening closed with dental floss.

Gloves a must. I don't like leather, too hot. I tried cut proff (braided staninless steel. They're okay but dirt and water get through. In the end, I use cotton work gloves. Longevity is a problem, They only last about 3-5 tough whacks.


Eye protection is important. Also, you can get a fair amout of face protection with a ball cap.

Also, you might want to bring dental floss and needles for field respairs.

Spencer,
Pristine is a chlorine dioxide water purification system. It's does not have the bad taste iodine.

Here is a link...

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_...071&PRODUCT<>prd_id=17633&bmUID=1097758467014

Thanks Jean,

I wasn't familiar with the name, but I guess I've used similar things (both chlorine and iodine).

spencer

Bring duct tape to repair that ripped up Gore-tex!

Jay H said:

When you get two 'wackers that both want to navigate, there should be some form of compromise and collusion between the two, rather than both going off in his/her separate way. Usually, with a known hiking partner(s), this is known beforehand but on a new trip, it would be interesting.

Click to expand...

Actually it is often more useful to fan out rather than everybody following the same route. For one thing, it reduces wear on the woods, but more significantly you have 2 (or N) times as much chance of discovering a woods road or an interesting artifact so you can call everybody over. But this does surprise new people when you do it

As to clothes, in summer I sometimes wear 65/35 or cotton clothes that are too ratty for work, but by November I will have either wool or acrylic shirt and pants.

Eye protection for sure - I use an old pair of prescription glasses that I don't mind getting scratched.

Great stuff! Keep it comin'. I'm ready to go get myself some Dickies and dig out my RecSpecs (raquetball glasses).

I suppose machetes are a no-no?

Agent Orange and a flamethrower

I go in shorts and t-shirt, carry one water bottle and a pack of Nutter Butters. Navigate by dead reckoning and Kentucky windage. Come out of the woods looking like I spent a day wrestling with a bobcat. Makes those "Survivor" dudes look like they spent a day at Club Med.

Yesterday I bushwhacked Richmond Mountain in the Catskills. A super short hike, but more briars than you can imagine. It was like a rainforest of briars that would've devoured me unless I had the proper gear.
I have been bushwhacking in North Face Paramount Peak pants. I've found these to be awesome. I did have gaiters too, but I emerged from the hike without a scratch or even the slightest tear in my clothing.